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From prototype to product: building a cleaner sanitary napkin incinerator at IIT Roorkee

Most small incinerators simply burn pads and push the smoke out. We set out to build one that treats its smoke first, then proved it in a lab test.

₹10 lakhDST NIDHI PRAYAS grant
18 monthsJune 2022 to December 2023
No. 383010Indian patent
3 unitssold during the project

The starting point

Techlance was incubated at TIDES, the technology business incubator at IIT Roorkee. In June 2022 our project received a ₹10 lakh grant under the Department of Science and Technology's NIDHI PRAYAS programme, which funds hardware founders to get from idea to working prototype. The company was incorporated in August 2022.

How we built it

  1. Cardboard model. A full-size mock-up to settle size, door position and how a user would load it.
  2. Steel fabrication. A stainless steel (SS304) primary burning chamber and a mild steel secondary chamber, with a 1.25 kW heater and a thermocouple-controlled temperature controller.
  3. Gas treatment. Filters remove particulates, and the remaining flue gases are treated before they leave the machine. This is the part covered by our patent.
  4. Field testing. Units were tested at the IIM Sirmaur girls' hostel and placed with Giants Group of Waluj in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
  5. Final product. Automatic door, LED information screen and a finished outer body.
Finished Techlance MAS sanitary napkin incinerator with LED screen and control panel
The finished unit, with LED screen and control panel.
Techlance incinerator units ready for dispatch
Production units, 2023.
Techlance incinerator with the front-loading door open, showing the chute into the burning chamber
Front-loading door open: napkins drop straight into the chamber.
Temperature controller on the Techlance incinerator showing a reading of 181 during a burn cycle
Controller during a burn cycle, with power and status lights.

Emission test results

We had the finished incinerator tested for stack emissions and noise. Every measured value came in well below the limit stated in the test report. Stack temperature during the test was 125°C.

ParameterUnitResultLimit
Particulate matter (PM)mg/Nm³15.4100
Oxides of nitrogen (NO₂)mg/Nm³7.520
Carbon monoxide (CO)% v/v0.060.3
Carbon dioxide (CO₂)% v/v2.63
Sulphur dioxide (SO₂)mg/Nm³Below detection (DL 3)20

Noise measured 1 metre from the machine ranged from 48.6 to 58.2 dB(A), with an average (Leq) of 55.6 dB(A), about the level of a normal conversation.

Techlance founders and the TIDES review committee with the incinerator at the project closure review
Project closure review at TIDES, IIT Roorkee.

The outcome

  • By the September 2023 progress review, three units had been sold to customers.
  • In December 2023 the TIDES review committee accepted completion of the project and recommended its closure.
  • The work earned founder Gaurav Sonawane the Aegis Graham Bell Award in New Delhi in February 2023.
  • The tested design is the basis of today's Techlance MAS range, and of our BinSense sensors for sanitary bins.
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